Peoples Democratic Party chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday brought back the forbidden "P" word into Kashmir's political discourse, reviving her call for talks with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and pushing to reopen the region's "Hormuz" — a gateway through Pakistan to China, Central Asia and Iran.
The hardline rhetoric comes as the security establishment in Jammu and Kashmir keeps a wary watch on the ripple effects of the West Asia crisis, particularly Pakistan's role in brokering a fragile ceasefire in the Iran war.
Mehbooba on Thursday said the world had forced the US to start dialogue with Iran as the crisis had choked the world economy, drawing a parallel with the alleged costs Kashmir had to pay after it was cut off from its traditional routes in 1947.
"It is difficult to take Pakistan's name here. People feel scared (to do it). But what can you do? Pakistan has played a key role. The world was on the brink of war, and that was stopped by them, at least for now," she said at a rally here.
"Pray to God this ceasefire holds, and Iran gets the victory. Iran's victory is the victory of the Muslim Ummah. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's sacrifice united Shias and Sunnis. Does anybody say today he is Shia and I am Sunni? We are all Muslims today," she said.
Mehbooba referred to her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's slogans for starting dialogue with the neighbours and opening the closed roads.
"He opened Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot (roads to PoK). He said Kashmir's apples will go across and money, not grenades, will flow in. Similarly, he said, 'our old road, used by Shahi Hamdan (a Central Asia Sufi seen as the founder of Islam in Kashmir) to enter Kashmir, which connected us with Central Asia, China and Iran, should be reopened'," she said.
The PDP president said all these roads in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh that connect India with Central Asia, Russia, China and Iran should be reopened.
"It (these roads) will become a Strait of Hormuz for Jammu and Kashmir. It will not just benefit Jammu and Kashmir but the whole of India," she said.